A civil action
By: Jonathan Harr.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Random House
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 500
Subjects: Anderson, Anne, 1936?-  -- Trials, litigation, etc; Schlichtmann, Jan; W.R. Grace & Co. -- Trials, litigation, etc; Trials (Toxic torts) -- Massachusetts -- Boston; Groundwater -- Pollution -- Law and legislation -- Massachusetts -- Woburn; Drinking water -- Contamination -- Massachusetts -- Woburn; Liability for water pollution damages -- Massachusetts -- Woburn
Description: The lawyer had not wanted the case at first - it was too big, too complicated, too risky. It concerned a cluster of childhood leukemia victims in a small town north of Boston where the city wells had been poisoned by industrial chemicals. Two of the nation's largest corporations, each with a plant near the wells, stood accused. Against his better judgment, the lawyer found himself drawn into the case.

In this book, you'll meet the Harvard Law professor who told the lawyer that this case was worth a billion dollars, that it was the sort of lawsuit that would ring the alarm in corporate boardrooms across America. And you'll meet his adversaries, foremost among them a crafty old trial lawyer, chairman of the litigation department at one of the biggest and most feared law firms in Boston.

The case turned into an epic struggle that took nine years of the lawyer's life. At the heart of the legal system, he was confronted by powerful and well-connected interests who would do anything to win. In the end, the struggle nearly cost the lawyer his sanity. He sacrificed everything - home, friends, and reputation - not for money, but for what he believed to be the truth.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 495-498).
Map on lining paper.